BATAVIA — When Barilla America committed to building a new manufacturing plant in Avon about two years ago, the company didn’t have any local employees or even its own base of operation to interview them. In stepped the Department of Labor and the Workforce Development Office in Livingston County. Staff in Geneseo helped screen prospective Barilla employees, giving skill assessments, online tests and taking resumes. The staffs helped Barilla fill 70 positions at the new plant. “I don’t know what we would have done without them,” Margaret Fillman, Barilla human resource manager, said about Workforce Development and DOL, which processed 1,300 applications in six months. “Their support has been unbelievable.” Barilla was one of four companies honored Friday by the Genesee-Livingston-Orleans-Wyoming Workforce Investment Board. The WIB works to find skilled employees for local companies. Pat Rountree, director of the Livingston Development Group, said the local work force development centers are critical to filling employment needs. Without the work force, companies obviously can’t expand locally, Rountree said. Barilla next year will add another 50 employees and Rountree said the DOL and Workforce Center will again be crucial to filling the employment needs. The WIB also honored Delaware North Companies for its work in hiring 100 employees to run the Pembroke Travel Plaza on the state Thruway. Delaware relied on the Genesee County Career Center to fill the positions, with employees ranging in age from 16 to 89. “Without them, we couldn’t have got up and running,” said Steve Kimmel-Hunt, human resources manager for Delaware North. The GLOW WIB also honored Matrix Scientific in Albion and Drasgow Inc. in Wethersfield for expanding their businesses and working with DOL and Workforce Development staff to fill the positions. Drasgow is a machining company that produces parts for the automotive and cable television industries. The company constructed a new 6,750-square-foot building and expanded from seven to 12 employees. Matrix Scientific manufactures stainless steel equipment for research facilities. The company moved into a portion of the former Viking Polymer Solutions building in Albion about a year ago and expanded from six to 18 employees. Matrix and Drasgrow were called classic small business success stories by GLOW officials. “We all hear that small business is the backbone of the economy,” said Jeanne Ianita, a DOL business services representative. “This is the reality right here.”
By Tom Rivers
The Daily News
Posted: From Dec. 15, 2007